Daniel Bluman and Malina reach the tipping point

Daniel Bluman is passionate about producing horses and when that process starts to come together as it did today, winning the $62,500 CSI 4* WEF Challenge Round 11 with Malina, it is a milestone.

Daniel Bluman has reached a tipping point with Malina. Photo: Sarah Eakin

“That’s why we have to wake up every day with a smile on our face while we work with these horses and believe and have dreams,” he said. “Because more often than not, they actually end up surprising you,” he said.

Daniel referenced the progress Malina has made having been with Bluman Equestrian since she was six years old. She was not Daniel’s first choice and initially partnered in competition with Daniel’s brother Steven. Daniel, took her undeer his wing as an eight-year old. “She went first to my brother,” Daniel said. “I liked her, but perhaps she was not one of my favorite ones.”

That is no longer the case. “You fast forward, and then when you look at them, she’s my favorite nine-year-old,” Daniel said. That revelation came after winning the WEF Challenge jump off with Malina in a time of 52.2 seconds, ahead of Adrienne Sternlicht and Faquitol-S who were runners up with their time of 53.13 seconds. Chloe Reid and Crossover 4’s time of 54.16 was sufficient for the pair to round out the podium.

You know when you’ve done well! Adrienne makes sure of the reward. Photo: Sarah Eakin

Winning the WEF Challenge was a bonus in this week’s plan laid out for Malina to start off in the 1m55 contest, followed by an appearance in Sunday’s Grand Prix – deliberately skipping over the Saturday Night Lights class, which could have been premature for the young mare. “So it was like a step up, but not a full on surprise for her young age,” said Daniel.

Producing horses at Bluman Equestrian is a full on family cooperative. “It’s great to have someone like my brother, Steven, or Ilan [Daniel’s cousin], that both have produced great horses and have helped me produce some of the great horses that I had,” Daniel, a three-time Olympian who was born in Colombia, but competes for Israel, said. “Because when you’re producing your horses, you really never know which one’s going to be the best one. And sometimes I try to hand pick from the beginning and try to take those directly with me when they’re six years old.”

WEF Challenge round 11 went to Daniel Bluman and Malina. Photo: Sarah Eakin

Daniel may not have picked Malina as a six-year old, but now he is enjoying the journey of continuing to produce her. “If you would have asked me one year ago, and one year is not too long, I would have told you that I didn’t feel that the scope was there,” he said. “But she just keeps on jumping. And if you would have asked me today – she has all this scope.”

The pair competed in several 1m45 classes and 2-star classes last year finishing out with a 1m50. They continued at that height in a few classes in Ocala before presenting her with her first 1m55 competition at WEF this week.

“This is the tipping point,” Daniel said “When you get to this point of her career, when you actually start asking bigger jumps and bigger competitions and she starts delivering, then you understand that you have a serious horse underneath you.”

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